Genre
Domestic Fiction
Setting and Context
The novel is set in the 1960s and 70s in Boston Massachusetts.
Narrator and Point of View
Narrated in first-person by Sophie and also in third-person from the perspective of an omniscient speaker.
Tone and Mood
Sad, Warm, and slightly humorous
Protagonist and Antagonist
There is no specific protagonist in the narrative but the mother Rosie and the second-oldest child Sophie could be considered protagonists. The antagonist is the dysfunction in the family exasperated by the father Gus.
Major Conflict
The narrative charts 12 years in the lives of seven children from a dysfunctional nuclear family. With an aloof and alcoholic father, they fall victim to his negligence and abuse akin to their mother.
Climax
The climax of the story reaches when Rosie is found dead in her car that had been struck by a train – possibly a suicide.
Foreshadowing
The failed game of hide-and-seek foreshadows the dysfunction and conflict in the family. As the rest of the family waits for their father in a linen closet to play the game, Gus arrives and proceeds to drink alcohol rather than find his children’s whereabouts.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The novel alludes to mental health issues passed down to the children by parents failing to provide a healthy upbringing impacting their future.
Imagery
“The fairway was soaked to a dark green, lined with spiky palms, ending at a cloudy smudge that was the ocean.”
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
The tragedies in the family instigated by the dysfunction also oddly unite the family in particular moments.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“It continued through the thorofare.”
Personification
“The music spiraled into a deadening moan, then ceased altogether.”
